Charles Barron Running for Congress on the “Robert Mugabe Is My Hero” Party Line

When we last saw Charles Barron, the fiery City Councilman was eulogizing Muammar Qaddafi at a Black Nationalist tribute in Bed-Stuy. Now, he’s announced his candidacy for Congress, in New York’s 10th District, currently held by venerable, potentially vulnerable Ed Towns.

Assembleyman Hakeem Jeffries also seems set to run in the 2012 Democratic primary, after redistricting; Barron previously ran for the seat in 2006, taking 35% of the vote in a three-way race (Towns won with 45%, as sleazy Atlantic Yards opportunist Roger Green, whose state Assembly seat is now held by Jeffries, took 15%).

Colin Campbell of the Brooklyn Politics Blog was at Barron’s Sunday presser to record his announcement; it’s notable mostly for his doubling-down on his anti-colonialist politics, starting at around 8:00:

“They told me when I get up here, don’t say nothing about foreign policy, Charles, ’cause they’re gonna use that against you.” The comment about Mugabe’s heroism is in reference to his land-redistribution policies.